If I was born a cow instead of a human I think my choice of residence would have to be Kathmandu.
By far I have seen more cows in Kathmandu than I did on all my field visits of dairy cooperatives in Makawanpur and Lalitpur.
Consider this; as a cow in Kathmandu I am free and I am sacred. I have seen cows travel in packs, and on their own. I have seen them happily stealing from market stalls and restaurants. On one memorable occasion I saw two of them racing through an alley way, the lead cow with some sort of packaged box hanging by a string from its mouth, and behind them the rightful owner chasing them with a stick; a lost cause for him once they entered the crowded thoroughfare. They seem to own the place.
As a cow I am not chained or fenced in here. So far as I can tell I am free to roam the entire Kathmandu valley, an area that is almost precisely the same geographic foot print of a standard sized Ontario township.
Being a ruminant my preference would be grains, hay, silage I suppose. But in Kathmandu I have seen cows feasting on a variety of food sources. In fact as a cow, I think Kathmandu would be the pinnacle of food diversity and sophistication. They are most often seen rummaging through heaps of garbage that is piled everywhere (and anywhere). From a cow's perspective this is a magnificent 'city-wide buffet' of sorts really.
And there is every variety of cow in Kathmandu (although the predominant breed appears to be a hybrid jersey of some sort). I don’t know their age expectancy or if they reach their maximum weight potential. But to me they appear healthy – far more so than the rib, bone and skin version you see in central America. Whether a result of pedigree or not, it is true they are not nearly the size of prize cattle you would see at any typical fall fair. They kind of look and act like large pets.
And there is every variety of cow in Kathmandu (although the predominant breed appears to be a hybrid jersey of some sort). I don’t know their age expectancy or if they reach their maximum weight potential. But to me they appear healthy – far more so than the rib, bone and skin version you see in central America. Whether a result of pedigree or not, it is true they are not nearly the size of prize cattle you would see at any typical fall fair. They kind of look and act like large pets.
Above all as a cow I am safe. Although there are more than 100 reported vehicular collisions a day in Kathmandu, very rarely is a cow involved. Motorists are keen to dodge them. Its not the physical damage (every vehicle here has dents and scratches). Rather, there is a reverse onus of liability owed to the owner of the cow if its damaged or destroyed. And this is something that could cost a relatively large sum to the average Nepalese.
Where the per-capita income annual income is less than $500 per year; in a country ranked 145th out of 153 countries on the UN’s 2008 Human Development Index; where a quarter of the population lives on less than a dollar a day and more than one in twenty children die before they reach their fifth birthday…, In a strange paradoxical way it makes you think about who won the lottery of life.
